“Chuck” was an unstoppable man mountain on the court over an illustrious career that saw him named an All-Star 11 times, but the power forward melted like butter when he locked eyes with the greatest NFL player the world’s ever seen.

Appearing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Barkley dished on his encounter with Brady ahead of this month’s Super Bowl when he was invited to New England training before the Patriots faced the LA Rams.

Barkley started off by telling Fallon how smoothly his visit to the Patriots camp was going before a man who was never intimidated by anyone was suddenly lost for words when he made eye contact with the legendary quarterback.

“Then I made a mistake Jimmy. I looked Tom Brady in the eyes,” Barkley said, shaking his head as Fallon and the studio audience roared with laughter.

“I’m looking at these guys and then all of a sudden I look at Gronk (Rob Gronkowski) and then Tom Brady’s right here and I look him in the eyes and I said, ‘Damn you’re a pretty man.’

“That’s what I was thinking to myself and I got so embarrassed I started turning my head to talk to him. I was like, ‘Hey Tom, it’s good to see you man, I haven’t seen you in a while’ (re-enacting being too embarrassed to look in Brady’s direction while simultaneously shaking his hand).”

And Brady, who is married to Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen and has dominated the league for the best part of two decades, may have more than just his vision, football nous and calmness under pressure to thank for setting up so many teammates for touchdowns over the years. Barkley joked his success has all been down to those eyes anyone would get lost in.

“I can see how he sets up all those touchdowns because those defences look into his eyes and they get mesmerised,” Barkley said.

“Tom Brady, he’s a pretty man.

“He’s a nice guy too but man, I can’t look him in the eyes.”

Whether his dreamy eyes played a part in it or not, Brady claimed his sixth Super Bowl ring when the Patriots defeated the Rams 13-3 in Atlanta.

Maybe he’ll cheer up when someone reminds him he led the Steelers with 111 receptions for 1426 yards in 2018 and scored seven touchdowns.

But don’t fear, Pittsburgh fans. Even though he can’t find love in the city, he has no intention of leaving.

“Oh for sure, no doubt,” JuJu told USA Today when asked about taking ownership as the No. 1 receiver in future. “As a kid, I always wanted to be the No. 1 guy. If the opportunity comes my way, I want to embrace it. Who doesn’t want to be the No. 1 guy?”

FURIOUS RESPONSE TO BOLD CALL

That crazed New York Giants fans would freak out about the idea of trading Odell Beckham Jr. would not be the boldest prediction.

The Athletic’s Jay Glazer went out on a limb on Thursday in forecasting, when asked for a “bold prediction” for this off-season, that the Giants would deal their $134 million star receiver.

But it was not just furious Giants fans who noticed Glazer’s guess. A few hours after the prediction was published, Beckham got back into the cryptic-tweet game, this time offering emojis of a zippered mouth and a smiling face.